


Bad Moon Rising

by Carcharias



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Horror, M/M, Mild Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, but not urban at all, rural fantasy?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-21 15:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14917706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carcharias/pseuds/Carcharias
Summary: Chanyeol moves from California to corn country, and has to adjust to a newer, slower, simpler way of life. It helps that there's several very handsome townspeople, especially an extremely cute one with a deadly glower, biceps for days, and a magnificent dog.Then things start going horribly, horribly wrong.





	1. Chapter One

_I see a bad moon a-rising_  
_I see trouble on the way_

\---------------------------

The gravel crunches loudly under the tires of Chanyeol’s car, drowning out the radio. He’s driving slowly down the road, probably too slowly but he’s never driven on gravel before, and this tiny hybrid wasn’t meant for anything but pavement. Besides, he hasn’t seen a single speed limit posted yet, so he has no way of knowing anyway. He’s also going slowly because he’s squinting at an email of written directions on his phone, and trying not to drive into one of the steep ditches on either side. As the email predicted, Google maps had given up on his location about three miles ago, when he turned off the paved roads of town onto gravel.

A truck whips by him going the same direction, engine roaring, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and completely obscuring his field of view. As a result, he almost misses the turn, just barely managing to make out the cement sign that says “MOONVIEW PRAIRIE RESEARCH, RESTORATION, AND MANAGEMENT CENTER” at the corner.

The email says to park his car along the road near the farmhouse, then walk up along the road the rest of the way, since apparently heavy rains had washed it out last month. He quickly spots the farmhouse, a small but well-kept white building with what appears to be a flourishing garden and lawn that borders a large cornfield. Everything borders a cornfield out here. No one appears to be home, so he parks, and starts to walk. The road winds past the house and quickly upwards, through a pleasant copse of hardwood trees before cresting a large hill. The road is indeed washed out—Chanyeol can see large, muddy ditches across the road where he assumes the rainwater swept the gravel away. It’s surprisingly steep, and tricky going over the mud, so by the time Chanyeol reaches the top he’s sweating heavily in the early afternoon sun.

He stops, panting a little, backpack sticking to his back, and admires the view. The trees give way at the top of the hill to sweeping, rustling prairie, spread across the wide area before sloping down and away on the other side of the hill, into more trees. Beyond that there’s more prairie and a reedy pond fed by a stream, according to the map he was sent. It doesn’t look like the rest of the landscape he’d seen on the drive this morning, grasses and flowers swaying golden in the sunlight as opposed to the endless hills of tall green corn, stalks jabbing sharply at the sky. To the left is a surprisingly large single-story 70’s-era building, with a large metal shed and tractor outside. A windmill towers over the building from behind, not as large and futuristic as the ones Chanyeol saw earlier, but still impressive.

“This is awesome,” he says aloud. Suddenly, relocating from California to corn country on a semi permanent basis doesn’t seem quite as daunting as it had this morning when he’d started driving.

“Isn’t it?” comes a voice to his left, and Chanyeol nearly falls over as a man’s head pops out of the grass. It’s quickly followed by a body as he stands up and picks his way out to the road. He takes off heavy work gloves and extends his hand to shake. “I’m Professor Lee; you must be Chanyeol. Glad you managed to find the lab.” He smiles a wide smile that seems to rival the sun for brightness. Chanyeol can’t help but smile back as he takes his hand. “Nice to meet you, professor.”

“Come on in then, let’s get you oriented!” 

Professor Jinki Lee doesn’t seem to stop smiling for the duration of the lab tour. He shows Chanyeol around the lab, discussing current projects and programs and where everything goes. He’s thrilled to have a new assistant out in the prairie, and Chanyeol had come highly recommended by the department back at the university. Chanyeol blushes a little but also preens with the compliments.

“Oh, you’ll want to meet Kyungsoo at some point, he manages the burn crew and does other basic land maintenance for the Center,” Professor Lee says, after showing Chanyeol the equipment in the shed, which appears to be mostly larger versions of gardening tools, plus foils and firestarting kits. “He lives over there.” He points to the farmhouse from before, distant at the bottom of the hill and on the other side of the cornfield, which extends a bit up the low slope before meeting prairie. From the hilltop Chanyeol can see that the field stretches out from the farmhouse and the road, away from the Center grounds and into the distance. He thinks he can see a silo at the other side but he’s not sure, it’s so far away. God, there’s so much fucking corn out here.

“Oh, right,” Professor Lee says, and it’s the first time his smile seems to slip a little. “See that cornfield? Stay out of it.” Chanyeol nods and opens his mouth to ask why, but the professor moves on to the windmill and he’s sufficiently distracted.

 

The afternoon passes quickly but busily as they traverse the grounds and start to hash out the details of Chanyeol’s job duties as well as his own research opportunities. The professor also frets a bit over Chanyeol’s living arrangements before Chanyeol reassures him that he’d already stopped by the cottage in town set aside for the Center’s lab tech and found it perfectly acceptable. Eventually, Chanyeol's stomach growls loudly and Professor Lee shoos him out of the lab to find dinner, saying that he’d be staying a bit longer to do some evening data collection. 

It’s cooling down outside as the sun inches towards the horizon, a breeze playing over the grasses. Chanyeol looks out over the cornfield. He can see the small farmhouse near his car on the other side, maybe a hundred or so meters away, and the town water tower rising out of the trees in the distance beyond that. It’s not far, it’s only just dusk, and by the time he’d circle around via the road it’ll be fully dark and Chanyeol really doesn’t want to walk along the uneven road at night. Surely it would be fine to cut across—he can even see a sort of path through the stalks, probably for irrigation. He’ll be careful not to break any crops, and charm his way past any grumpy farmer. He hoists his backpack higher on his shoulders and swings his legs over the low fence.

It’s surprisingly dark in the stalks, the leaves reaching much higher above his head than they appeared on the outside of the field, and Chanyeol is not a short man. But he can still see okay, and he marches along, feet crunching on dirt and old corn leaves. A couple times he brushes against the stalks to either side and he jumps back with a hiss, out of fear of damaging any crops and also surprise at how sharp the thick green leaves are. They leave thin, shallow red scratches on his biceps and he tucks his elbows in a little tighter.

Halfway across the field—or what he thinks is halfway, it’s hard to tell—he hears rustling to his right. At first he thinks it’s merely a trick of his hearing, or the breeze that’s been playing all day. But as he plods along and the sun sinks lower, the rustling continues, more regularly and a bit louder, more insistent. 

It’s probably a deer. Chanyeol thinks they come out to feed around now, and there was no deer-proof fencing around this field. While deer aren’t inherently dangerous, Chanyeol doesn’t particularly want to surprise one, so he picks up the pace. 

The rustling matches his pace, and then shifts to the left. Chanyeol stops, and the rustling stops. He peers into the corn, trying to see movement, straining his ears for noise. Dark green looks back at him, and silence presses. He can’t even hear crickets. He starts walking again, and the noise immediately starts up, following as his pace increases until Chanyeol is speedwalking through the corn, no longer giving any thought to the care of the crops on either side.

Then, quite suddenly, there is a loud, low growl somewhere to his right and Chanyeol _runs_. He doesn’t know what it is, fueled by blind panic, logic lost to the increasing shadows on either side and overtaken by base instinct to flee. Suddenly he can see the end of the path about twenty meters ahead, and he puts on a burst of speed. The rustling seems to shift quickly, trying to overtake him in front and he sprints faster. He’s a few meters from the exit when a man appears out of the stalks directly in front of him and Chanyeol barrels into him at full tilt.

They both go down and crash into the stalks, Chanyeol already yelping apologies though he’s drowned out by loud barking. He catches himself on the ground and finds himself looking down at wide, dark eyes set in a thundercloud expression. Maybe it’s his panic-addled brain but Chanyeol freezes for half a second too long, transfixed by the face glaring up at him through the dim light. Plush lips pulled into a frown, framed by a square jaw, full cheeks, and dark hair cropped short on either side. And those eyes, deep and blinking owlishly up at him under thick brows. He hesitates a moment too long, however, and the eyes shift into a blazing glare before he’s shoved roughly off to clamber to his feet.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the man says harshly as Chanyeol brushes himself off. The barking has stopped and Chanyeol now notices the largest, whitest, fluffiest dog he’s ever seen, almost glowing in the low light and standing alert at the man’s side. He barely resists the urge to (carefully) approach and cuddle it. It helps that its apparent owner is glaring at him. Chanyeol hangs his head and adopts his most sheepish look, the one that has over the years got him, Baekhyun, and Jongdae out of many an entanglement.

“Oh, I’m sorry man, I was just trying to get back to town after working late—didn’t realize this wasn’t a shortcut.” He grins lopsidedly and tries to look as charmingly helpless as possible. This guy seems youngish, maybe he can even get a friend out of this. He sticks out his hand. “I’m new around here. Chanyeol Park, nice to meet you.”

The man’s face doesn’t change, except maybe to tighten in slight confusion. “You’re the new lab rat,” he says, more a statement than a question. Chanyeol drops his hand, about to protest the moniker when the man continues. “Didn’t Jinki tell you to stay out of the corn?”

Chanyeol blinks. “Professor Lee? Oh, yeah, well…” he trails off, avoiding the glare still directed his way. “I mean, he mentioned it but I didn’t think it was a big deal, it’s just corn...” even as he says it, Chanyeol winces at how douchey that sounds.

“It’s not just corn,” the man says, face tight and voice hard. “And you should stay out of it, especially at night.” He turns towards the exit, the dog trotting ahead. Chanyeol scrambles to follow him. They emerge before another low fence, and the man nimbly hops over the railing after his dog and stalks towards the small farmhouse away from Chanyeol. 

“Wait!” Chanyeol says, nearly tripping over the fence in realization. “You live here? You must be Kyungsoo—Professor Lee told me to talk to you!” 

Kyungsoo stops short and whirls around, pinning Chanyeol in place with his eyes. “Don’t. Fuck. With. The corn,” he says, nearly growling each word. “Got it?” Chanyeol raises his hands in a placating gesture. “Okay, I’m sorry man, I won’t, I swear.” Kyungsoo nods once, then continues to his house, dog trotting at his side. Chanyeol stands there in the cooling night air for a few minutes until he hears the sound of a screen door slam. 

He shakes his head as if to clear it, then sets off towards his car. Maybe the bars in town have friendlier folk, and Chanyeol needs a drink.

 

Turns out there is in fact only one bar in town, and on a Tuesday night it’s mostly empty save for a couple truckers venturing in from the highway. Chanyeol only stays as long as it takes to order and eat a burger (surprisingly decent) before making his way to his home for the forseeable future. 

He wasn’t lying about the house being perfectly acceptable, a cute little ranch cottage with a small garden and a large yard Chanyeol could only dream of out in California. But it’s also very empty. Chanyeol flops onto the couch, resting his legs on the stack of cardboard boxes containing his life relocated. His ears strain for the sound of Baekhyun yelling at his computer and Jongdae breaking into random song. Instead, the quiet presses down on him, a stark contrast from the noise of L.A.

“You chose this,” he says to the popcorn ceiling. “It will be good for your research. It’s only a year or so. Maybe less.” He sighs, rolling to smoosh his face into the back of the couch. “You’ll be fine.”

Eventually, he manages to fall asleep but the silence keeps him awake late into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for Jay, for Chansoo day!! I'm trying this thing where I write it as I go, in chapter format. I have the story plotted but I want to get it out chapter by chapter, so this is the first one! There should be one per week, I think, and this way Chansoo day extends, mwahahahaha. Hope you enjoy! I'm excited for this ride, myself.
> 
> Rating and tags will change accordingly! (Though not much)
> 
> title and lyrics courtesy of Creedence Clearwater Revival.


	2. Chapter Two

_Everybody here is out of sight_  
_They don't bark, and they don't bite_

 

\----------------

 

The next morning Chanyeol heads back to the Center for his first official day of work. There’s not much to do yet, as he hasn’t started his own research, and besides himself and Dr. Lee there’s no one else using the lab. It’ll pick up in a couple months once summer school groups get started and Dr. Lee’s undergraduate research candidates show up. But right now during the semester there’s not a ton to do with regards to running the lab beyond maintaining various projects from other researchers.

Dr. Lee turns out to be a nice conversationalist, and the time passes pleasantly as they work, chatting. The incident with Kyungsoo in the field still rattles around in Chanyeol’s brain, and he brings up the cornfield late morning while they’re sorting and watering plant pallets in the attached greenhouse.

“Oh, that? No, it’s nothing too bad,” Dr. Lee says, straightening a few pallets. “Well, I guess no more sinister than the capitalist industrial complex usually is, so I guess it’s actually extremely evil.” He chortles at his joke, then continues. “It’s owned by SMENTCo, bought it a while back. It was actually a big flap with the town and the university because it was so close to local farms and the Center,” he says, frowning a little. “They use it to grow their experimental shit I guess, so we just stay off it to keep them from getting lawsuit-happy.” He turns a wide grin on Chanyeol. “Didn’t you notice how tall and green the corn was? Unusual for this early in the season.”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “Cali boy,” he says, gesturing to himself with the hose nozzle.

“But you’re managing a prairie lab.”

Chanyeol shrugs, “I know ecosystems and lab tech, not farming.”

Dr. Lee laughs. “Fair enough.” He squints at Chanyeol. “You didn’t go into the field, did you?” Chanyeol shrugs sheepishly and Dr. Lee proceeds to scold him, though none of it has any real bite, Dr. Lee half grinning as he waves an empty planter in Chanyeol’s face.

Soon enough it’s time for lunch. He trudges down the road back to his car, picking his way over the washout areas. He spares a glance at the farmhouse, and briefly considers going up and knocking, trying to apologize for yesterday. But there’s no car in the drive, and Chanyeol’s stomach takes the opportunity to rumble loudly, so he just gets in his car and turns towards town.

The food scene in Moonview consists of the bar Chanyeol went to yesterday, a diner that appears to be constantly open, a pizza place that appears to be closed, the ubiquitous chain fast food place, and a “fine dining” restaurant that is also the only establishment with a Yelp review (3 stars). There is also an adorable ice cream stand that impressively boasts “OPEN YEAR ROUND” in red paint on its tiny roof. 

Chanyeol heads to the diner. He barely manages to sit and place his order before a man suddenly slides into the seat across from him.

Chanyeol blinks. “Uh. Hello?”

The man looks at him impassively, face blank under severe eyebrows. He’s extremely handsome, tall and broad with a mop of dark hair, shoulders straining under his tshirt, but Chanyeol is too startled to pay attention. 

“You’re Chanyeol Park.”

“Uh, yes?”

“From California?”

“Y...eah?”

The man suddenly smiles, a small smile that makes his eyes go scrunchy and transforms his face from an intimidating mask to a bright, sparkling young man. “I’m Sehun Oh, it’s nice to meet you.” He shifts in his seat excitedly. “Tell me about California.”

Chanyeol is never one to refuse a pretty face, so Chanyeol does. He answers Sehun’s many questions about L.A., about the food and the people and his life back with his roommates. Sehun hangs on his every word, and if Chanyeol embellishes a little he really can't be blamed—Sehun is very handsome and Chanyeol is very weak, and extremely gay.

Eventually, after the waitress comes back with his sandwich (and a soda for Sehun), he asks for information about the town.

“Ugh, Moonview is so boring,” Sehun says, sipping petulantly at his soda. “Everyone knows everyone and there’s nothing to do besides like, go swimming in the summer and sit in the library. All I do is take orders from people who don’t know what wines go with what food and like their steaks black as tar.”

Chanyeol doesn’t know what wines go with what food either but he just nods sympathetically. 

“I wanna go somewhere with real _culture_ and _history_. Somewhere interesting.” Sehun smiles. “Like California!”

“What about the SMENTCo stuff?” Chanyeol says around a mouthful of sandwich. “That seems interesting.”

Sehun perks up immediately. “Oh! You heard about that already?” 

“I’m over at the Center so Dr. Lee mentioned it but he didn’t say much.” 

“Oh, right.” Sehun nods, then continues in increasingly excited tones. “Yeah so like twenty years ago it was this big fight with the town and SMENTCo, like, a real fight over weeks, with riots in front of the courthouse and SMENTCo sending in strikebreakers like some sort of Upton Sinclair-type shit.” Chanyeol nods, barely understanding the reference. “People even tried to burn the field. Eventually, the town just agreed to settle with SMENTCo.”

“But you know what I heard?” Sehun lowers his voice and glances to the side. 

“What?” Chanyeol says eagerly, sandwich forgotten.

Sehun leans forward, eyes glittering, voice low and breathy with excitement. “I heard they settled because a girl _died_.” Sehun’s head suddenly snaps forward as a large menu smacks him in the back of the head. “ _Ow!_ ”

“Don’t spread rumors,” says the short man wielding the menu. He’s impossibly attractive, face symmetrical in a way that Chanyeol hasn’t seen outside of Instagram, but also kind-looking. He’s dressed in a light blue button up and chinos, like some sort of hot dad. “Especially not ones that are old as hell and aren’t even remotely true. I would know, I was there.”

“Barely!” Sehun whines, “You were what, like, two?”

“I was ten,” he says. “Plenty old enough. Better than some people who didn’t even have object permanence figured out.” Sehun grumbles and rubs at his head pointedly. 

The man ruffles Sehun’s hair and then turns a smile on Chanyeol, who nearly chokes. “I’m Junmyeon Kim, I run the bar.” He extends his hand and Chanyeol takes it. His hand is tiny but shockingly strong, much like the way he carries himself. Chanyeol has never met someone who exudes sheer reliability the way Junmyeon does.

“You should come by tonight, we have a trivia night every Wednesday though really it’s more of a chance for people to gossip and mingle.” 

Chanyeol can feel his smile stretching his face at the idea. “That sounds awesome.”

Junmyeon smiles winningly, transforming his face into a sun to rival Dr. Lee’s, cheeks sparkling. “Great! Your first drink’s on me.”

After Junmyeon leaves, Sehun stays and chats with him until Chanyeol finishes his meal. He’s extremely easy to talk to, teasing Chanyeol in a way that reminds him of Baekhyun, and adorable when he gets excited, like when Chanyeol shows him his Instagram and he sees Jongdae’s shock of blonde hair. Chanyeol goes back to the Center having made a new friend, and optimistic about making some more tonight.

 

Chanyeol walks into a radically different bar than the previous night. It’s stuffed to the gills with people, music blasting from an honest-to-god jukebox in the corner. Chanyeol doesn’t see Sehun, Dr. Lee, or Kyungsoo amongst what appears to be the entire damn town, so he simply heads to the bar, where Junmyeon and the female bartender from last night are busy at the taps. When he sees Chanyeol, Junmyeon smiles just as brightly as before, shining under the dim bar lights.

“Chanyeol!” He hands someone their beer and makes his way over. “Glad you could make it. What’ll you have?” He talks while he fills a glass of Chanyeol’s selection, voice loud to be heard over the din. “How was work? Having a _field_ day at the Center?” He waggles his eyebrows and laughs brightly when Chanyeol groans at the pun. “I’d chat more but I’ve got to help Seulgi fill orders.” He gestures to a booth in the back of the bar. “Sehun’s over there; I’ll join you guys once the trivia gets started.”

Sehun waves as Chanyeol approaches the table. He’s sitting with several other people, and Chanyeol decides he really has to reevaluate the merits of this town, since they’re all easily some of the most attractive people he’s ever met. There’s Luna, a tiny woman with long brown hair and huge eyes, who is tucked up against Amber, whose cutoff tank shows off an impressive sleeve of tattoos. Next is a boy named Jongin, who looks like he walked out of a farm-themed magazine shoot, somehow making the bit of hay in his hair seem purposeful. 

Chanyeol introduces himself but they all seem to already know who he is, and promptly continue their previous conversations. He sits down next to the person sitting next to Sehun, a man named Minseok who, like Amber, is sporting a loose tank despite the mild weather and appears to be built like an action figure. He takes Chanyeol’s hand with a crooked gummy smile and a swish of his floppy black hair and Chanyeol’s poor gay heart can barely take it. 

“Nice to meet you,” Minseok says. “It’s good to finally put a face to the name.”

Chanyeol groans. “How is it that I’ve only been here two days and everyone seems to already know who I am?”

“It’s a small town,” Minseok laughs, “it’s normal for news to travel fast.”

“It’s weird!”

“You’re the new nerd working in Jinki Lee’s lab, straight from Hollywood, and cute to boot,” Minseok says, eyes glinting. “Prime gossip fodder.”

Chanyeol grins wide even as he blushes furiously. “I’ll let the nerd comment pass, this time, since the gossip mill recognizes my innate handsomeness.”

Minseok laughs again, a loud bark of laughter that cuts over the ambient noise. “Well count me lucky then, since we’ll probably be working a lot together.” He takes a sip of his beer and gestures across the table to Jongin, Luna and Amber, who appear to be engaged in a heated discussion over the game playing on the TV over the bar. “We’re all on the prairie burn crew with Kyungsoo. I dunno if he’ll show up tonight—have you met him yet?” 

Chanyeol grimaces into his beer. “Yeah but I don't think he likes me much.”

Minseok chuckles and pats Chanyeol consolingly on the back. “That’s just Kyungsoo, he’s a bit grouchy. I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.”

“Who hates Chanyeol?” Sehun says, leaning into their space. 

“Kyungsoo, apparently,” Minseok says, and Chanyeol nods sadly.

“Oh if you want him to like you, talk about his dog,” Sehun says, and Jongin nods quickly in agreement. “Kyungsoo is really a giant softie even though he looks grumpy. It’s Minseok you gotta watch out for, he looks all angelic but is really a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” Minseok’s grin turns sharp and Sehun yelps, jumping in his seat and falling on Jongin like he’d been pinched. “See?!”

Chanyeol laughs loudly and Sehun glares at him. “You better win us this round of trivia, nerd,” Sehun says, “I only befriended you for your brain and to make Minseok and Junmyeon feel short.”

Soon enough Junmyeon makes his way over to the table with more drinks in tow, pulling up a chair as the music dims and the trivia starts. Chanyeol is extremely competitive, and he’s delighted to find the rest of his table equally so, voices loud and boisterous and glasses rattling whenever Luna bangs her fist on the table in indignation. The night passes easily and loudly, and Chanyeol feels comfortable for the first time since he got on a plane at LAX. When Seulgi announces their group as the winner of the $25 coupon to the local grocery store, he hollers in drunken victory with the rest of the table, shaking Junmyeon by the shoulders as if they’d been friends for ages.

Dr. Lee shows his face at some point, tipsy and happy to see Chanyeol getting along with people. Chanyeol never manages to spot Kyungsoo, though he kept looking the entire night, whether out of apprehension or hope, he’s not sure. He must have stayed home. Chanyeol will have to try to make amends tomorrow.

They all stumble out of the bar, drunk more on victory than alcohol, and make their separate ways home. Junmyeon, who had the least to drink of everyone, offers Chanyeol a ride home. It turns out that he lives on the same street as Chanyeol, and Sehun lives with his mother only a block over. He waits for Chanyeol to unlock his door like an actual dad, and Chanyeol waves him off from the window. 

He collapses on his bed, flipping through the handful of new contacts in his phone over to browse snaps from Baekhyun and Jongdae. They still cause a twinge of loneliness behind his ribcage, a sharp ache of longing at the videos of L.A. streets and Jongdae making faces at neighborhood cats. But tonight the ache doesn’t keep him awake, the silence of his house muted by the lingering smell of smoke and beer on his jacket and noise of laughter ringing in his ears. It lulls Chanyeol into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to try to get these out faster, mostly out of my own impatience to get the story told and get the plot moving! Definitely at least weekly though, that won't change. Let me know what you think!
> 
> lyrics: King Harvest


End file.
